Bowling grip developer



Aug. 1, 1961 M. M. COHAN BOWLING GRIP DEVELOPER Filed April 12, 1960 INVENTOR. MwrvbnMwhd/w QM, w a whdak M ATTORNEYS United States Patent 2,994,530 BOWLING GRIP DEVELOPER Marvin M. Cohan, 221 4th St., NE, Canton, Ohio; Hilda Cohan, executrix of said Marvin M. Cohan, deceased, assignor to herself Filed Apr. 12, 1960, Ser. No. 21,758 2 Claims. (Cl. 272-68) The invention relates to means for exercising the muscles of the fingers and hands, and more particularly to a device for developing a bowlers grip.

Obviously, a person who bowls almost daily will naturally develop the grip of the second and third fingers and thumb of his bowling hand by constant use of the same in actual bowling. However, the person who bowls at infrequent intervals, such as an average of once a week, does not maintain his bowling grip in sufficiently developed condition during the relatively long intervening periods of inactivity. v V

The present invention is designed especially for use by such infrequent bowlers to provide means whereby they may easily develop their bowling grip.

It is, therefore, a primary object of the invention to provide a device which may be grasped between the second and third fingers and the thumb and alternately squeezed and released to develop and strengthen the muscles which come into play when grasping a bowling ball.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device of the character referred to comprising two opposed grip members having grooves therein for receiving the two middle fingers and the thumb respectively, and a resilient, compressible member interposed therebetween.

A further object of the invention is to provide such a device in which the resilient, compressible member is in the form of a pad of sponge rubber or the like to cushion the palm of the hand and prevent pinching of the same between the opposed ends of the grip members.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a device of this character in which the two grip members are angled downward away from each other to prevent their buckling upward when pressure is applied thereto by the fingers and thumb.

The above objects together with others which will be apparent from the drawing and following description, or which may be later referred to, may be attained by constructing the improved bowling grip developer in the manner hereinafter described in detail and illustrated in the accompanying drawing.

In general terms, the invention may be briefly described as a bowling grip developing device comprising a pad of sponge rubber or similar resilient, compressible material having opposed finger and thumb grip members connected to opposite faces thereof.

The grip members may be formed of resinous plastic material, hard rubber or other suitable substantially rigid material. Each of the grip members may have a transversely rounded upper surface.

A pair of parallel, longitudinally disposed grooves are formed in the under surface of the finger grip member and are extended around the outer end and for a short distance into the top surface thereof, for grasping by the second and third fingers in flexed position.

The outer end of the thumb grip member is provided with a central groove which extends partially into the upper and lower surfaces thereof for accommodating the thumb in flexed position.

One or both of the opposed faces of the grip members may be cut off at an angle so as to normally dispose the grip members downwardly and outwardly relative to each other, for the purpose of preventing them from buckling upwardly when pressure is applied against the ends thereof.

The sponge rubber pad extends upwardly above the top surfaces of the grip members so as to cushion against the palm of the hand when the device is grasped and squeezed in the hand.

Having thus briefly described the invention, reference is now made to the accompanying drawing showing a preferred embodiment of the invention, in which- FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing how the improved bowling grip developer is grasped between the second and third fingers and the thumb for strengthening and developing the muscles thereof;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the device;

FIG. 3 is a bottom plan view thereof;

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view taken as on the line 44, FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is an end view of the device looking toward the finger grip member.

Referring now more particularly to the embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawing, in which similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout, the bowling grip developer comprises the opposed finger grip member indicated generally at 1, and the thumb grip member indicated generally at 2, with the interposed compressible resilient pad 3 formed of sponge rubberor similar material.

The grip members 1 and 2 may be made of a resinous plastic material, hard rubber or other suitable substantially rigid material, the opposed ends 4 and 5 respectively of which are cemented or otherwise attached to opposite sides of the compressible central member 3.

For the purpose of disposing the grip members slightly downward and outward, so as to prevent their buckling upward when pressure is exerted thereon, the inner end of one grip member may be cut off at a slight angle. As best shown in FIG. 4, the inner end 4 of the finger grip member 1 is thus cut off at an angle. The same result may be obtained by cutting off the inner ends of both grip members, in which case the angle at which the end of each grip member is cut off should be about one-half the angle of the end 4 as shown in FIG. 4.

The upper surfaces 6 and 7 respectively of the grip members 1 and 2 are preferably transversely rounded and the lower surfaces 8 and 9 respectively are substantially flat.

A pair of parallel, longitudinally disposed grooves 10 are formed in the underside of the finger grip member 1, these grooves extending around the ends of the grip member, as indicated at 11, and terminating in the tapered grooves 12 in the upper surface thereof.

The thumb grip member 2 is provided in its outer end with the centrally located groove 13 terminating upwardly in the substantially tapered groove 14 in the upper surface and downwardly in the substantially tapered groove 15 in the lower surface of the grip member.

The bottom surface 16 of the compressible member 3 is generally flat and may be substantially flush with the bottom surfaces of the grip members, and the upper sur face 17 thereof extends above the surfaces of the grip members and is preferably rounded as best shown in FIG. 5. Also, as shown in the drawing, the ends of the compressible member 3 may extend outwardly beyond the grip members as indicated at 18.

In order to develop his bowling grip, the bowler grasps the device in his bowling hand, as shown in FIG. 1, the flexed thumb being received in the grooves, 1413-'15 in the outer end of the thumb grip member 2, and the flexed second and third fingers being received in the grooves 12-11-10 in the finger grip member, in much the same manner that the thumb and second and third fingers are received in the holes of a bowling ball.

Patented Aug. 1 1961 The upper surface 17 of the compressible, resilient pad 3, of foam rubber or the like, will provide a cushion in the palm of the hand to assist in holding the thumb and fingers properly positioned in the grooves in the grip members. a

Working against the tension of the compressible resilient pad 3, the bowler alternately squeezes the grip members 1 and 2 toward eachother as far as he can and then releases the pressure on them.

The muscles and tendons of the thumb and middle fingers are thus strengthened and developed. By frequent use of this device, for short periods of time, during intervals between actual bowling, will thus keep the bowling grip properly strengthened and developed.

In the foregoing description, certain terms have been used for brevity, clearness and understanding, but no imnecessary limitations are to be implied therefrom beyond the requirements of the priorart, because such words are used for descriptive purposes herein and are intended to be broadly construed. I

Moreover, the embodiments of the improved construction illu strated and described herein are by way of example, and the scope of the present invention is not limited to the exact details of construction.

Having now described the invention or discovery, the construction, the operation, and use of preferred embodimerits thereof, and the advantageous new and useful results obtained thereby; the new and useful construction, and reasonable mechanical equivalents thereof obvious to those skilled in the art, are set forth in the appended claims.

I claim: 7 l. A bowling grip developer comprising opposed thumb and finger grip members and'a compressible resilient pad interposed between and connected to the opposed inner ends of the grip members, there being a centrally disposed groove in the outer end of the thumb grip member terminating in tapered grooves in the upper and lower surfaces" of the thumb grip member, and there being a parallel of the grip members being cut ofi at an angle, there being:

a centrally disposed groove in the outer end of the thumb grip member, and there being a parallel pair of longitudinally disposed grooves in the underside of the finger grip member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,229,653 Sandow June 12, 1917 2,664,289 Norwich Dec. 29, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 21,603 Great Britain 1900 

